“He would just run the field,” Amy Wilson, Blake Wilson’s mother, said. “Sometimes it was Blake against the rest of his little co-ed team.”

Back in his preschool recreational leagues in Iowa, the current sophomore dominated the field. He routinely dribbled past an entire defense before slotting a shot into the empty net.

“In Iowa, nobody took soccer that seriously, so I became a rarity in soccer since I was one of the only kids to put in the effort,” Blake said.

However, when the Wilsons moved to St. Louis when Blake was in the second grade, soccer became more competitive. Kids would play on the blacktop before, during and after school, and Blake wanted in on it.

“My mom walked me extra early to school and would sit to watch me while I played for hours,” he said.

Soon, his casual blacktop practices evolved into his first glimpse of the more competitive soccer St. Louis had to offer. 

“I didn’t know anything about local clubs, but I wanted him to play competitive soccer,” A. Wilson said. “So we picked St. Louis Scott Gallagher because when I saw the other kids wearing jerseys, I thought that’s a good place to start.”

Now playing for a top-tier development organization, Blake found opportunities to take soccer more seriously.

“I started on the lower Gallagher team and kept moving up because I practiced hard and consistently played well,” he said.

Eventually in pursuit of more challenges, Blake drove to STL City’s Academy, where rigorous daily training was the minimum requirement.

“Our training is very game-oriented with lots of decision-making, pressure and quick touches to prepare players for professional soccer,” Mike Sorber, STL City’s U16 head coach, said.

Instead of simply cycling through drills, the Academy’s structure is built to stretch players in every direction with bigger fields midweek to push their endurance, tighter fields on other days to practice quick reactions, and Thursday film sessions to support more intentional practices.

“Blake has a good engine, he’s quick, can get out of tight spaces,” Sorber said. “This opened him up to a lot of positions playing wide as a winger or running in midfield.”

During practices, players at STL City Academy are exposed to all positions and parts of the field, allowing them to choose what suits them best.

“I was always a defensive midfielder, but one day I got moved to winger and it clicked,” Blake said. “I enjoyed scoring even in the leagues back in Iowa, so this finally placed me back where I felt I fit.”

For Sorber, what elevates Blake above his peers is not his technical foundation, but his mental toughness.

“He’s an amazing winger,” Sorber said. “I think the combination of athleticism and soccer IQ makes him a strong forward, but his ability to keep calm in these competitive environments makes him an even stronger player.”

STL City Academy prepares players for professional soccer not only through extra practices, lifting sessions and competing for minutes with the club’s second professional team, but also by introducing them to the professional lifestyle of team buses, hotel curfews and multi-day trips away from parents.

“Back when he was with Scott Gallagher, most games were local and easy to get to, but now with STL City, trips are multiple days and out of town, so we can’t be at nearly as many,” his mom, A. Wilson, said.

Blake’s training became so intense that he switched to hybrid school days to fit in midday training.

“It’s harder now because balancing in-person school, online school and another training session means a lot more homework at night,” Blake said. “But I keep school a priority and the online program lets me take AP classes in my sophomore year.”

His effort earned him a spot in U.S. Soccer’s Talent Identification Centers. Teenagers from across the country were invited to these intense scrimmages, where they performed under the guidance of the national team staff.

“You can see the national team scouts at your games. They have a tent set up in the middle of the field, and you know they are watching how you play,” Blake said. “It’s a lot of pressure whenever they come, but it’s rewarding to see your gameplay watched by such important people.”

His performance at the Talent ID centers spoke for itself. A U.S. Soccer staffer reached out to deliver Blake’s long-awaited call-up.

“We got an email from the U.S. Soccer saying congratulations, you’ve been selected, and I remember sitting in the car going, ‘Oh my gosh,’ and screenshotting it to send to Blake and my husband,” A. Wilson said.

That first call-up to play for the U.S. U-16 national team in the CONCACAF tournament in Costa Rica transformed how Blake and his family viewed soccer, shifting it from a competitive sport to a potential career.

“When he got his first call-up last February, it was like ‘Whoa, wait, this might actually be something more,” she said. “We started thinking that his journey may be a little bit non-traditional.”

Now, Blake has been called up to multiple U-16 national teams to play in Argentina and, most recently, Spain, during the week of Nov. 3. 

“He scored his first international goal against Spain on Monday, and you could see what it meant to him,” A. Wilson said. “These national teams have the best players in the country, some already signing contracts, so it was great to see Blake have the opportunity to play with them.”

Despite the high-pressure environment, Blake’s time in Spain ultimately reaffirmed his deep commitment.

“Now, my goal is to keep making the national team and break through with STL City’s professional team,” Blake said. “I want to get signed, play professionally and someday maybe even play for Tottenham. That’s what I’m training for.”